Archinect - News

AIA updates pandemic re-occupancy design tools

2020-06-01T19:47:00-04:00

As part of an effort to help guide the transition to "new lifestyle norms" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published a collection of tools that spell out strategies for re-occupying and retrofitting existing spaces.

The tools, an ongoing COVID-19 response project developed by AIA as the pandemic has taken hold, are designed as "enhanced tools for reducing risk of COVID-19 transmission in buildings" set to be reoccupied as stay-at-home orders are gradually lifted.

Previously on Archinect: "AIA publishes guide for re-occupying shuttered buildings post-quarantine." Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Larsinio.

Building experts expect that many existing buildings, including offices, classrooms, shopping centers, and government facilities, will need to be temporarily retrofit for use that accommodates social distancing guidelines. These guides are aimed at helping inform those adaptations in a way that includes input from designers, arch...

Updated Alternative Care Site tool developed by AIA to be distributed internationally by US Department of State

2020-05-11T14:00:00-04:00

Last month, Archinect reported on the recently completed “Preparedness Assessment Tool” developed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) that aims to offer guidance for how existing spaces can be converted for temporary hospital use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tool, crafted by the AIA's COVID-19 Task Force, is designed to help architects and healthcare directors appropriately select existing buildings for reuse as Alternative Care Sites (ACS) by bringing together some of the best practices currently known for limiting the spread of infectious diseases in interior spaces.

Previously on Archinect: "AIA’s COVID-19 Task Force publishes design guide for retrofitting buildings for hospital use." Image courtesy of U.S. Air National Guard Photo / Senior Airman Sean Madden.

The tool was recently updated by the task force in order to "better meet the needs of frontline workers, including healthcare providers" and to better "reflect recommendations from various agencies, such as...

AIA publishes guide for re-occupying shuttered buildings post-quarantine

2020-05-07T14:54:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published a tool designed to help make the re-inhabitation of existing buildings take place more safely as the initial round of nationwide shelter-in-place directives begins to fade away.

According to an announcement published by AIA, the so-called Re-occupancy Assessment Tool aims to "provide public officials, businesses, and architects with practices that protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public while businesses, stores, restaurants, etc., reopen."

Previously on Archinect: "Recently shuttered buildings could bring about a “grisly lung infection” of their own."

The too, which was developed by AIA's Disaster Assistance Committee, "provides a framework of strategies and general mitigation measures that can help reduce exposure to COVID-19," the organization writes.

Previously on Archinect: "'Hygiene ventilation' and the case for Green Stimulus." Image courtesy of Image by Erich Westendarp from Pixabay.

The 19-page PDF offer...

Recently shuttered buildings could bring about a “grisly lung infection” of their own

2020-04-28T18:27:00-04:00

The sudden and sweeping closures of schools, factories, businesses and government offices that have come as a result of the COVID-19 crisis have created an unprecedented decline in water use within existing buildings. And the resulting lack of chlorinated water flowing through pipes, combined with irregular temperature changes, have created conditions ripe for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, US News reports.

With the extended shut down of commercial buildings expected to last for at least several more weeks, public health experts are, according to US News, “urging landlords across the globe to carefully re-open buildings to prevent outbreaks of the severe, sometimes lethal, form of pneumonia.”

Molly Scanlon, an Arizona environmental health scientist leading the American Institute of Architects’ coronavirus task force tells US News, “After surviving COVID-19, who wants to open a building and have another set of significant safety issues?”

Building safety professional...

AIA’s COVID-19 Task Force publishes design guide for retrofitting buildings for hospital use

2020-04-08T16:23:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published a preliminary “Preparedness Assessment Tool” to help architects and healthcare directors appropriately select existing buildings for reuse as Alternative Care Sites (ACS).

The document brings together best practices for ACS design based on existing and recently implemented directives and was developed according to “joint professional input from trained and experienced health care architects, designers, engineers, scientists, life-safety consultants, healthcare professionals, and hospital facility operations,” according to the document.

The Tool stakes out key priorities for these temporary sites and offers design guidance for limiting the spread of viruses within the facility while establishing a baseline level of quality and functionality for the healthcare delivered in these spaces.

Previously on Archinect: “AIA publishes COVID-19 database to share best practices in hospital conversion design.” View of the temporary hospi...

AIA publishes COVID-19 database to share best practices in hospital conversion design

2020-04-03T17:57:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is currently assembling a database containing information on the health care facilities, both traditional and temporary, and the design professionals around the world mobilizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, AIA announced the creation of an internal COVID-19 task force that seeks to provide expert advice on how existing buildings can be rapidly converted for temporary hospital use.

Previously on Archinect: “AIA launches COVID-19 task force to advise building adaptation for hospital use initiatives.”View of the repurposed Oakland Municipal Auditorium during the 1918 flu epidemic. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / Edward A. "Doc" Rogers.

As part of that group’s work, AIA has published the COVID-19 ArchMap, an online library created in partnership with the Kansas University Institute of Health + Wellness Design. The website collects information on these medical facilities in order to create a searchable resource for med...

AIA launches COVID-19 task force to advise building adaptation for hospital use initiatives

2020-03-26T15:13:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the creation of a special task force that aims to educate public officials, healthcare facilities, and other architects on how to adapt existing buildings for temporary hospital use.

According to a statement published by the group this morning, the task force will encourage "federal, state and local government to adapt appropriate existing buildings to meet the growing healthcare and quarantine needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," a phenomenon that has already begun to take shape in some of the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, where the need for hospital beds is quickly outstripping the available supply.

Previously on Archinect: "US Army Corps of Engineers has a plan to convert hotels into “ICU-like” facilities." The Army Corps of Engineers has developed a standard plan for converting hotels into makeshift hospital wards. Shown: The Army Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of Wikimedi...